1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to navigational aid systems; and more particularly, to a navigational aid system especially suited for use in an ocean or other large water body to correlate the location of a fishing boat with water temperatures, water depth, nautical obstacles and local weather conditions that facilitate fish finding in a safe, efficient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of satellites have been launched in geosynchronous orbits or asynchronous orbits to gather and provide weather information, infrared telemetry of clouds, measurement of ground temperature and ocean surface temperatures as well as military specific data. Some of this data such as a view of the earth from space (GOOGLE® earth Internet application) is readily available from the Internet. Similarly, ocean surface temperature maps are available to the public on the website of the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (henceforth the “Rutgers Marine Institute”) or the website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Satellite Date Processing and Distribution (henceforth “NOAA”) which uses computer correlation of satellite data acquired during multiple passes of one or more satellites to generate false color temperature profiles. The NOAA website contains a map that shows temperature contour lines. The map encompasses 16 degrees latitude×22 degrees longitude or 960×1320 nautical miles or 1105×1519 miles (1778×2445 kilometers), which constitutes a very large area, as shown in FIG. 1. The Rutgers Marine Institute website allows a section of specific area in the eastern united states to be magnified. The data is updated in an interval of several hours by NOAA. These maps have false color indications of temperature and indicate one or two ocean depth contours, which are very coarse. The size of the map is 3 latitude degrees by 4.5 longitudinal degrees or 180×270 nautical miles, or 207×312 miles (333×502 kilometers), as shown in FIG. 2. Even though this mapped area is smaller than the NOAA map it still occupies a vast area, such as all of east coast and the like. Consequently, the map has minimal special resolution for defining the local water temperature or ocean depth as a fishing boat travels on the ocean or large body of water. In addition, there are problems with these maps since the coastline in these maps does not match the actual coast line due to the relatively high temperatures of the same. Also, clouds mask the sea temperature visibility and these and other areas provide an off-scale reading for temperature. Problems in interpreting these images are discussed in detail at the thecoolroom.org website. Both of these maps provide reference latitude and longitude values, but locations described by a given GPS provided ocean latitude and longitude may not be properly placed on the maps due to the coarse map dimensions, and the information obtained by using these maps tends to be too misleading and inaccurate to reliably match these parameters to provide ocean temperature information at a given GPS provided. Therefore these color map and contour profiles at best provide a coarse indication of ocean depth or ocean temperature and therefore are clearly unsuited for guiding a fisherman traveling in a boat to specific location that present an optimum fishing opportunity.
The OCEANTEMP™ website provides a subscription service of ocean temperature that is updated twice daily and includes a more precise map of ocean surface temperature, ocean depth and presence of obstructions such as buoys, wrecks and the like. The larger area map is shown in FIG. 3. This figure encompasses 2.3 degrees latitude by 2.3 degrees longitude or 138×138 nautical miles or 159×159 miles (256×256 kilometers). The magnified version of the map obtained by a left mouse button click displays a detailed map, as shown in FIG. 4, which is typically 1 degree latitude by 1 degree or 60×60 nautical miles or 69×69 miles (111×111 kilometers). This magnification is sufficient to show all the details of the ocean surface temperature and ocean depth usable by a fisherman. Unfortunately, no indication is provided by the map concerning the extant location of the boat. The map does not disclose or suggest means that enable a fisherman to determine if and when his boat crosses an interesting thermal profile, such as water upwelling, where more fish are likely to be found.
The OCEANTEMP™ software also provides an overlay of cloud cover data using GOES IR satellite data. This cloud cover is obtained from low resolution images and is generally not as precise as the ocean sea water temperature or the ocean depth profile. This is a separate map that is not coincident with the latitude/longitude locations displayed by the ocean temperature/ocean depth map and is used for general guidance of local weather.
THE WEATHER CHANNEL® website provides satellite based images and Doppler radar images of cloud cover and weather patterns. These maps outline the continent or satellite boundaries, together with coastline details, but do not provide latitude/longitude lines. Thus, matching these satellite images with ocean surface temperature data requires matching of coastlines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,398 to Wansley, et al. discloses a fishfinder that provides a readout of bottom coverage. This fishfinder uses an electromechanical transducer for transmitting sound waves into the water in the form a triangular conical beam. The echo generated by a fish or other bottom feature is received by a receiving transducer. Time delay data is converted to distance and is displayed on a real time display. This device shows bottom features directly under the transducer conical beam, but does not show any depth change or obstructions in the path of the fisherman's boat. No information is provided concerning an ocean temperature profile.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct maps containing data that indicate ocean surface temperatures, ocean depth profiles and presence of obstructions, no attempt has been made to correlate that data with the precise location of a fisherman's boat as it travels through the water to reveal an ocean thermal profile, ocean water depth or hazard location, such as a wreck or the like, that is immediately at hand. Consequently, there remains a need in the art for a system that correlates ocean temperature data with the presence of a fishing boat, and which provides improved guidance concerning locations where fish may be more abundant, thereby increasing prospects for a successful catch.